Lamp turnover and transfer device



May 24, 1966 E. G. ALTENBURGER LAMP TURNQVER AND TRANSFER DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 17, 1964 Fi .2. m z jg r O 074 50 ITWV3TTTOT Eugene G. Alftenbu by am His A t t'c fineg May 24, 1966 E. G. ALTENBURGER 3,252,588

LAMP TURNOVER AND TRANSFER DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 1?, 1964 as .2 e x m .D 3% a i Wm? .05 WW United States Patent 3,252,588 LAMP TURNOVER AND TRANSFER DEVIQE Eugene G. Altenburger, Mayfield Heights, Ohio, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New This invention relates generally to transfer mechanisms and more particularly to a device for turning over and transferring electric lamps from, for example, a sealing machine to an exhaust machine.

It is an object of the invention to provide a lamp turnover and transfer device capable of operating smoothly at high speeds and with a minimum of maintenance.

In accordance with the invention, the objects are achieved by the provision of a device comprising a turret member which carries four gripper members, such as suction cup holders, equally spaced about its periphery. The turret is mounted for indexing rotation about a horizontal axis in steps of 90 and for swinging movement about a vertical axis, the two motions being correlated to unload a lamp from the sealing machine and load another lamp into the exhaust machine.

Further features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of a species thereof and from the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a transfer device comprising the invention and an associated head of a lamp sealing machine at the left and a head of an exhaust machine at the right, the sealing head being shown in correct angular relation to the transfer device at the moment that one of the heads or grippers of the transfer device is fully engaged with a lamp in the sealing head, whereas the exhaust head is turned into the plane of the transfer heads for a clearer showing of the elements thereof. Lamps are indicated in broken lines in both the exhaust head and the adjacent transfer head although no lamps occupy those positions at the moment illustrated.

FIG. 2 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 1 with the several mechanisms in proper relationship and with the transfer mechanism shown in section through its horizontal axis of rotation; and

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of the transfer device with its transfer arms omitted.

As shown in FIGS. l and 2, the transfer device T is located between the turrets of a sealing machine S and an exhaust machine E. It transfers a sealed and tubulated lamp bulb L from the sealing machine S to the exhaust machine E. During the transfer, the lamp L is inverted. The lamp L in the sealing machine S is picked up by one of four suction cup heads 1 which are fixedly mounted on arms 2 at equally spaced locations around a wheel 3 which is attached by spokes 4 to a hub or turret 5 which is mounted for rotation about the axis of a horizontal shaft 6. After the cup 1 at the nine oclock position I (FIG. 1) has gripped a bulb I. in the head 7 of the sealing machine S it starts a clockwise (FIG. 1) rotation about the axis of shaft 6 to remove the lamp from the said head 7. Shortly thereafter it starts to also swing horizontally about the vertical axis A (FIG. 2) of shafts 8 and 9 (FIGS. 1 and 3) which axis intersects the horizontal axis of the shaft 6. The cup holder 1 rotates or indexes 90 to the twelve oclock position II (FIG. 1). At the same time, the lamp in the cup 1 at position II is rotated to the three oclock position III and is swung horizontally to carry the lamp L therein into a holder head 10:: associated with a head It) on the exhaust machine E. One of the reasons for the high speed of transfer is the correlation of the vertical rotary indexing motion and the horizontal swinging motion of the suction cups 1 so that the lamp L at position I is moved horizontally as soon as it has been lifted sufficiently to clear the parts of the sealing head 7, and the cup 1 at position II is lowered to an elevation sufliciently low to clear the parts of the exhaust head 1% before entering the said head 10. It will be evident that two lamps are in the process of being transferred at any given time, that is, only half of the transfer is effected during the idle cycles of the sealing and exhaust turrets. Furthermore, for maximum speed of operation of the units, the indexing movements of the sealing machine S and exhaust machine E are timed to be out of phase since a lamp is removed from the sealing machine S at a different moment from the insertion of a lamp into the exhaust machine E.

The vacuum cup turnover turret 5 is mounted on the hub 11 (FIG. 2) of a turnover gear 12 which is mounted for rotation on the spindle 6 and is located in an opening in a block member 13. The block 13 is mounted on the side walls 14 of a frame member including upper and lower ends 15 and 16 which are provided with journals 17 and 18 for pivotal motion about the axis of upper shaft 8 and lower shaft 9. The upper shaft 8 is supported in a stationary frame member indicated at 19 (FIG. 1). The lower journal 18 is attached to a hollow support shaft 20 and bears on stationary journal 21 in which the said shaft 20 is journalled.

The horizontal swinging motion is effected upon rotation of the support shaft 20 by a swing cam 22 (FIG. 3) on cam shaft 23 and which has a cam track 24 which is engaged by a roller 25 on the arm 26 which is pivoted on pin 27 and is connected by connecting rod 28 to the arm 29 which is fastened to the support shaft 20.

The cups 1 and turret 5 are rotated by the gear 12 and rack 30 through cam 31 on shaft 23. A cam track in the face of cam 31 is engaged by a roller 32 on arm 33 which is pivoted in a pin 34 and is connected to the shaft 9 which is connected by :an arm 35 t0 the rack 30. During such rotation, the gear 12 is locked to turret 5 by four pins 36 extending from a drive plate 37 which is attached to the shaft 6, said pins 36 extending through holes 51 in turret 5 and into holes 50 in gear 12.

After each 90 of indexing rotation, the cups 1 and turret 5 are locked in place by a locking plate 38 which is fixed to the shaft 6 and has four pins 39 which are engageable with holes 40 in the block member 13. The locking plate 38 is actuated by a track in cam 31 which engages a roller 41 on arm 42 which is pivoted at 43 and is attached by collar 44 to hollow shaft 45 to which is attached arms '46 and 47 which are attached by a link 48 and yoke 49 to the locking plate 38. When the transfer is locked by engagement of locking plate pins 39 with "block 13, the pins 36 of the turnover drive plate are retracted from engagement with the holes 50 in gear 12, and the gear 12 is free to be rotated back 90 by downward movement of rack 30 to be in position for the next rotary index of the turret 5 and cups 1.

Suction is applied to the cups (1 through hoses 52 which are connected by short lengths of conduit 53 to openings or ports in a rotary valve plate 54. The conduit lengths 53 extend through openings in the turret 5. The rotary valve plate 54 surrounds a reduced shoulder portion of turret 5 and is pressed by springs 55 (FIG. 2) against the face of a stationary valve plate 56 which is attached to the block 13. The vacuum is controlled by three arcuate port grooves 57, 58 and 59 in the face of the stationary plate 56 and which are connected by passages in the plate 56 to conduits 60, 61 and 62 which connect.

to a vacuum source. When a suction cup 1 is at position I (FIG. 1) it is connected to vacuum-via the port 57. During its rotation to position II, the cup 1 becomes connected to port 58, the suction being maintained in hose sufliciently to hold the lamp L in place while the associated opening in rotary plate '54 is rapidly moving across the space between ports 57 and 58. During the indexing of cup 11 from position II to position III, it severs its connection With port 58 and establishes connection with port 59 which is at the time connected to the vacuum source and remains so connected until after the lamp has been delivered into the head a at the exhaust machine E. Shortly thereafter, the vacuum is disconnected from port 59 to release the lamp in head 1011 by the actuation of a valve 63 (FIG. 3) by a cam 64 on the cam shaft 23 which causes air to be supplied to the port 59.

The holder head 10a associated with head 10 on the exhaust turret E, as illustrated herein, is similar to that disclosed and claimed in Patent 2,910,166-Wiltshire et al. As the lamp enters the holder 10a it is inserted into the open side of .a yoke member 65 and between said yoke 65 and a saddle holder member 66. The yoke holder 65 is carried by a spring-loaded pin 67 which is mounted in a hollow post 68 which is carried by one end of an arm 69 which also carries the saddle holder 66 and Which is pivoted on a pin 70 carried by a bracket 72 which is fixed to the upper end of a spring-loaded spindle 73 which is carried by a link in a chain 74. The post 68 is held normally upright by engagement of a screw 75 on lever 69 with a lug 76 on bracket 72.

Immediately after insertion of a lamp into holder 10a, the yoke 65 is permitted to be pulled down by spring 77 against the neck of the lamp bulb L due to downward movement of a support lever 78, and the saddle holder 66 moves up against the bottom of the lamp bulb as the bracket 72 is raised by upward movement of a cam track section 79 which is engaged by a roller 80 on bracket 72.

Before the exhaust head 110 and holder head 10a index away, a pair of collector rods 81 and 8201 16. 2) close against the upper end of the exhaust tube 83 (FIG. 1) extending upwardly from the bulb L to pull the exhaust tube back against a stationary bar 84. The rods '81 and 82 are mounted on pins fastened to intermeshing spur gears 85 and 86 and they center the exhaust tube 83 for threading into the exhaust port 87 upon upward movement of the lamp with its support 66.

At the start of the transfer, the lamp bulb L in head 7 of the sealing machine is resting on the holder 88 and the lower end thereof is almost completely exposed and (free because the conventional spindle 89 has been lowered so that it encloses only the very end of the exhaust tube '83.

To summarize the operation of the transfer device, it begins with a swinging movement to the left in FIG. 1 (clockwise in FIG. 2) about the vertical axis (FIG. 2) of the shafts 6 and 9 to bring the suction cup 1 at posi- 1 pins 39 into the holes 40 in block 13 and, simultaneously tion I against the lamp bulb L in head 7. This motion is effected [by the swing cam 22 through levers 26 and 29, link 28 and hollow support shaft 20 which carries the frames 14, 15, 16 in which is mounted the block 13 from which is supported the turret 5, wheel 3, arms 2 and cups 1. At this time the said cup 1 at station I is connected to a vacuum source via the port 57 in the stationary valve plate 56.

The transfer of lamp L from head 7 starts with a clockwise (FIG. 1) indexing motion of the turret 5 about the axisof shaft 6 which is initiated by upward movement of the rack 30 and shaft 9 by a track in the cam 31 acting on lever 33. Just prior to the start of this rotary indexing motion the locking plate 38 is retracted by yoke 49, link 48, arms 47 and 46 and hollow shaft 45 which is moved upward by lever 41 and a track in cam 31. Thereby, the locking pins 39 have been withdrawn from block 13 and the pins 36 on the turnover drive plate 37 have been engaged with the holes 50 in the gear 12.

The horizontal swinging of the transfer to the right in FIG. 1 and counter clockwise in FIG. 2, starts just after rotary indexing motion has started, and is effected by cam 22 through lever 26, link 28, arm 29 and hollow support shaft 20 to which is fixed the lower end portion 16 of the frame member 14, 15, 16. This swinging motion causes the cup 1, which has been brought from position II to position III (FIG. 1) by the rotary indexing motion, to insert the lamp held thereby into the lamp holder head 10a associated with the exhaust head 10. During the rotary index, the cup 1 leaving position I has its vacuum connection shifted from port 57 of valve plate 56 to port 58; similarly, the cup 1 leaving position II has its vacuum connection shifted from port 58to port 59.

After completion of the horizontal swing of the transfer counter clockwise in FIG. 2, the lamp L inserted into exhaust head 10 is released by its associated suction cup at position III when the cam 64 (FIG. 3) actuates the valve 63 to cut off the vacuum supply to port 59 and substitute a source of low pressure compressed air. Also, immediately after the 90 index has ended and before the start of return swing clockwise in FIG. 2, the locking plate 38 is actuated to lock the transfer by inserting its therewith, the pins 36 on the turnover plate 37 are retracted from the holes 50 in gear 12. The uncoupling of gear 12 from turret 5 permits reverse rotation of the gear 12 and lowering of the rack 30, during the swing back counter clockwise in FIG. 2, followed by unlocking of the transfer by removal of pins 39 from the block 13 and engagement of pins 36 with gear 12, preparatory to the next 90 rotary indexing motion.

While the arms 2 which support the suction cups 1 from the turret wheel 3 may in some cases extend simply radially outward from said wheel 3, in this case in order to clear certain parts such as the arm 78, the arms 2 are composed of separate arm sections 90 and 91 and bracket 92 which are fixedly connected together and arranged to to secure by Letters turret in the same direction through an angle of 90 about a said horizontal axis, means also mounting said turret for swinging rotation bodily about a vertical axis, and means operable to swing said turret in one direction about said vertical axis during at least part of the period of its rotary indexing motion and to swing said turret in the reverse direction during the intervals between periodic indexing motions of the turret.

2. A transfer mechanism comprising a turret member mounted for indexing rotation about a horizontal axis, four gripper members supported from said turret at equal angular intervals in acommon plane normal to said horizontal axis, means operable to periodically index saidturret in the same direction through an angle of 90 about said horizontal axis, means also mounting said turret for swinging rotation bodily about a vertical axis, and means operable to swing said turret in one direction about said vertical axis during a period beginning just after the start of one of the periodic indexing motions of the turret and continuing for a short time after completion of said one indexing motion and to swing said turret in the reverse direction during the intervals between periodic indexing motions of the turret.

3. A transfer mechanism comprising a support member, means mounting said support member to swing about a vertical axis, a turret member supported from said support member and mounted for indexing rotation about a horizontal axis, a drive gear adjacent said turret and mounted for rotation about said horizontal axis, four gripper members supported from said turret at equal angular intervals in a common plane normal to said horizontal axis, a vertically disposed rack in meshing engagement with said gear and mounted for vertical reciprocation, locking means including a shaft supported for horizontal reciprocation from said support member with its axis coincident with said horizontal axis, said locking means further including two sets of lock members fixedly supported from said shaft and arranged so that upon axial reciprocation of said shaft in one direction one set of lock members engages said support member to lock the shaft against rotation while the other set of lock members is in engagement with only said turret to thereby lock it against rotation and upon axial reciprocation of said shaft in the other direction said one set of lock members disengages from said support member While the said other set of lock members is in engagement with both said turret and said drive gear, means for swinging said support member about said vertical axis in forward and reverse directions, means for moving said rack vertically in one direction to rotate said gear and turret 90 during at least part of the swinging motion of said support member in its forward direction and for moving said rack in the reverse direction during swinging motion of said support member in its reverse direction, and means actuating said locking means to couple together said turret and gear during the movement of said rack in said one direction to effect rotation of said gear and turret 90 and to effect uncoupling of said gear from said turret and locking of said turret against rotation during said swinging motion of said support member in its reverse direction.

4. A transfer mechanism comprising a turret member mounted for indexing rotation about a horizontal axis, four suction cup gripper members supported from said turret at equal angular intervals in a common plane normal to said horizontal axis, means operable to periodically index said turret through an angle of 90 about said horizontal axis, means also mounting said turret for swinging rotation bodily about a vertical axis, and means operable to swing said turret in one direction about said vertical axis during at least part of the period of its rotary indexing motion and to swing said turret in the reverse direction during the intervals between periodic indexing motions of the turret, and including rotary valve means adjacent said turret comprising a stationary valve member supported from said support member and having arcuate ports therein connected to a source of vacuum, and a rotary valve member supported from said turret and having ports therein connected by conduits with respective said suction cups, the rotary valve port associated with a given cup at a pick-up position being arranged to register with separate ports in said stationary valve member during two successive 90 rotary indexing motions to retain an article insaid cup, and means to'momentarily sever connection of vacuum to the stationary valve port communicating with the cup after its second 90 rotary index and just prior to beginning of its next rotary index whereby to release the grip of the cup on the article held thereby.

5. A transfer mechanism comprising a turret member mounted for indexing rotation about a horizontal axis, four suction cup gripper members supported from said turret at equal angular intervals in a common plane normal to said horizontal axis, means operable to periodically index said turret through an angle of about said horizontal axis, means also mounting said turret for swinging rotation bodily about a vertical axis, and means operable to swing said turret in one direction about said vertical axis during a period beginning just after the start of one of the periodic indexing motions of the turret and continuing for a short time after completion of said one indexing motion and to swing said turret in the reverse direction during the intervals between periodic indexing motions of the turret, and including rotary valve means adjacent said turret comprising a stationary valve member supported from said support member and having arcuate ports therein connected to a source of vacuum, and a rotary valve member supported from said turret and having ports therein connected by conduits with respective said suction cups, the rotary valve port associated with a given cup at a pick-up position being arranged to register with separate ports in said stationary valve member during two successive 90 rotary indexing motions to retain an article in said cup, and means to momentarily sever connection of vacuum to the stationary valve port communicating with the cup after its second 90 rotary index and just prior to beginning of its next rotary index whereby to release the grip of the cup on the article held thereby.

6. A transfer mechanism as in claim 3 wherein said gripper members are suction cups, and including rotary valve means adjacent said turret comprising a stationary valve member supported from said support member and having arcuate ports therein connected to a source of vacuum, and a rotary valve member supported from said turret and having ports therein connected by conduits with respective said suction cups, the rotary valve port associated with a given cup at a pick-up position being arranged to register with separate ports in said stationary valve member during two successive 90 rotary indexing motions to retain an article in said cup, and means to momentarily sever connection of vacuum to the stationary valve port communicating with the cup after its second 90 rotary index and just prior to beginning of its next rotary index whereby to release the grip of the cup on the article held fliereby.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,8 39,438 1/1932 Prussing.

2,580,472 1/1952 Smith.

2,791,316 5/1957 Mullan 198-2l0 X 2,860,761 11/1958 Kocan.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner. 

1. A TRANSFER MECHANISM COMPRISING A TURRET MEMBR MOUNTED FOR INDEXING ROTATION ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS, FOUR GRIPPER MEMBRS SUPPORTED FROM SAID TURRET AT EQUAL ANGULAR INTERVALS IN A COMMON PLANE NORMAL TO SAID HORIZONTAL AXIS, MEANS OPERABLE TO PERIODICALLY INDEX SAID TURRET IN THE SAME DIRECTION THROUGH AN ANGLE OF 90* ABOUT SAID HORIZONTAL AXIS, MEANS ALSO MOUNTING SAID TURRET FOR SWINGING ROTATION BODILY ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS, AND MEANS OPERABLE TO SWING SAID TURRET IN ONE DIRECTION ABOUT SAID VERTICAL AXIS DURING AT LEAST PART OF THE PERIOD OF ITS ROTARY INDEXING DURING THE INTERVALS BETWEEN PERIODIC INDEXING MOTIONS OF THE TURRET. 